CapAsia

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

CapAsia VI: Jan-Mar 2010

Ball State University is offering its next South Asia field study semester, CapAsia VI, in Spring 2011.

CapAsia is a unique field semester with national and international reputation, and we have it at CAP. It provides an extraordinary opportunity to experience the socially, culturally, and historically different South Asia, and to develop a critical understanding of the participants' own cultures and environments. It is a truly interdisciplinary program that cuts across all fields in CAP and will draw on relevant methods and knowledge in social sciences and humanities. CapAsia participants truly immerse in South Asian cultures, learn by doing collaborative projects with leading universities in the region. In addition to their South Asia cultures and why they build the way they do, you will also learn about your own environments and culture, and a bit of the future of the world that is in the making.

The program is open to juniors, seniors, and graduate students from any university with an interest in social and cultural aspects of urban spaces and built environments.

We will spend 11 weeks in south Asia and the program consists of two main projects. We will conduct the 7-week "Planning to Learn" project in India and a 3-week "Building to Learn" component in Nepal. We will stopover in two cities on our way in and out of South Asia; tentatively these will be in Istanbul (Turkey) and Hanoi (Vietnam). We will fix the exact locations as we develop the theme for 2010. For information on the last CapAsia, see: http://www.capasia.net/

The trip is the cheapest offered at Ball State. The program fee is about $6,300; if we receive the Fulbright-Hays grant which we received for CapAsia IV and V, the fee may go down to about $3,300. This will cover all long-distance travel and lodging costs and the cost of living in South Asia is very minimal; you can survive with about $500. In addition, you will have to pay tuition at the off-campus rate (almost equivalent to in-state tuition). You are eligible to use most scholarships and financial aid. If you plan ahead, you might not need accommodation in Muncie (or wherever you reside) for spring 2011.

We begin processing applications on February 15, 2010. As you may have to academic, financial, and other arrangements, feel free to communicate with us at anytime at CapAsia@gmail.com.